FIFA medical chief Michel D’Hooghe: Ignore the British press, there will be no re-vote on Qatar 2022

The British press clamour for it. British politicians, including the Prime Minister, demand it. But FIFA will not reopen the bidding for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

The man telling me this, Michel D’Hooghe, speaks with great authority. A member of the FIFA executive since 1998, he took part in the vote four years ago which made the stunning decision to take the finals to the Gulf state.

“There will be absolutely no re-vote. Some in the English press want that. But it’s not the English press that decide.”

It was fresh allegations in The Daily Telegraph a fortnight ago that reignited the controversy.

The paper alleged that former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner and his family received £720,000 from a company controlled by the Qatari Mohammed Bin Hammam seven months after the Gulf state won the FIFA vote. Both took part in the 2010 vote but left FIFA nearly three years ago following other corruption allegations.

The Telegraph did not specifically link the payment to the Qatar vote but did report: “The revelations will fuel concerns that some FIFA executive committee members were not impartial when they cast their votes in 2010.”

When I ask D’Hooghe whether corruption might have been involved, the Belgian says: “Absolutely not. I had no feeling anything was going on then and I still have no feeling that there was corruption during this vote.

“The voting [which also decided the 2018 venue for Russia] took place in absolute religious silence, like a conclave to elect the Pope. Everybody had to give in his mobile on entering the room. I have done so many elections [including deciding four World Cups]. There was not much difference with the earlier ones.”

However, for two years now, both the Qatar and 2018 Russian decisions have been under investigation by US lawyer Michael Garcia on behalf of FIFA’s ethical committee.

What is more, the most recent stories led to a new twist with rumours swirling through the corridors of FIFA’s Zurich headquarters that the Garcia investigation would be stopped.

Jim Boyce, FIFA’s British member, says he was told of the claims by Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein of Jordan, Asia’s FIFA vice-president.

But, says D’Hooghe: “No proposal was made to me. It did not come before the executive. It was only after the meeting that I heard that some people were not prepared to accept Garcia. It is very clear. We, the executive committee, had proposed to congress to establish an ethical committee and I would not consider taking that responsibility away from Mr Garcia. This guy takes his work very seriously. I am very impressed with him and really support him.”

To reinforce this support, D’Hooghe also reveals that, just before the executive meeting he had an hour-long meeting with Garcia.

“No, it was not as a result of the story. I was invited one or two weeks before and immediately accepted with great pleasure. Mr Garcia plans to interview all the FIFA executive committee who participated in the vote and are still on the executive. I had a very good talk with him and a chance to tell him what I knew of the elections. I had, of course, nothing to hide.”

D’Hooghe is prepared to admit that FIFA made one error. “We decided two World Cups at the same time. Why did we make the mistake? Under pressure of our marketing brothers who said, ‘If we can sell our marketing products for two World Cups, we will have much better financial results.’ I plead guilty like all my colleagues.”

He also accepts that the process of FIFA executive members deciding World Cup bids is flawed. “The pressure on executive members is so big.”

From now, bids will be decided by all FIFA members at congress but D’Hooghe says: “It is not a good solution because the influence will change and go to other parts.

“The best thing would be if the computer decides based on information given from all sides: legal, structural, medical and so on. But this cannot be. So I feel we should have a neutral group formed of experts from many fields.”

But, even as the 69-year-old doctor makes this suggestion, he must be aware that his fellow FIFA members are not very good at accepting expert opinion. So, the executive voted for Qatar despite a report from their own evaluation commission warning of the dangers of holding the competition in the excessive summer heat.

When I make this point, D’Hooghe says: “That was not the only report to say that. In my capacity as chairman of the medical committee, I said the same — that in Qatar, we have to avoid the warmest period of the year. That essentially means June, July and August. I have never changed my opinion from the very beginning.”

So, while the 2022 vote may not be re-opened, it is clear FIFA will have to revisit the question of when to stage the Qatar World Cup. This process will commence in December and a decision is due next March.

While D’Hooghe hopes the Qatar question will eventually be laid to rest, he fears the British will always be suspicious of FIFA.

“In the last two congresses, we have cleaned up a lot. Two things remain: age limits and term limits [for elected officials]. Hopefully, we will agree them at the Sao Paulo congress.

But, for the British press, whatever we do is never enough. And the feeling in FIFA is that all this British criticism is partly sour grapes.”

This is a reference to the 2018 bid when England were eliminated in the first round. The D’Hooghe-led Belgium-Netherlands bid did better but lost to Russia and D’Hooghe says: “In football you win and you lose. If England feel they have not had a World Cup since 1966, then Belgium has never had the World Cup. England must not complain. They just had the Olympics and organised it fantastically.”